Coin chute



July 7,1942. w. PATZER ETAL COIN' CHUTE Filed July 27, 1939 INVENTORS.

ATI'ORN Patented July 7, 1942 I UNITED STATES PATENT j OFFICE assess: com cnu'rs William Patler Chi and Walter a. much,

cago,lll.

Application July 27, 1939, Serial No. 286,789 1 Claim. (01. lei-o) This invention relates to coin testing devices and has as its principal object the provision of a means for compensating for variations in magnetic influence of the testing devices, which willbe simple in structure, economical in manufacture and highly emcient in use. p

Othefobjects, advantages and economies peculiar to the invention relate to certain details devices disposed in the chute below the entrance. This anvil is preferably of the type described and claimed in our United States Patent No. 2,159,117, and which anvil includes as one of its features an elongated ridge lla. inclined downwardly and against which the rim of a coin impinges to cause genuine coins (i. e. coins of genuine U. S. mintage,

' particularly five-cent pieces) to rebound in a cerof construction, as well as the arrangement and improved runway;

chute along line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

The present invention provides improvements which are illustrated in conjunction with a coin chute of the type described in detail in our copending application, Serial No. 266,582, filed April 7, 1939', such a chute including a main plate member I I having opposite vertical edges ii upset to provide end walls and provided with a gate II which is swung on a pivot rod ll extending through ears I offset along the upper edge parts of the gate, and ears II offset along upper edge parts of the main plate. The gate is thus adapted to swing about a-horizontal axis toward and away from the inner side of the plate It between thefianges II.

An upper edge part It of the gateis offset to provide an entrance opening l'l, in confrontationof coin elements may collect to prevent jamming.

the detailed operation and construction of this feature being particularly set forth and claimed in the aforesaid eopending'application and another' copendlng application, Serial No. 250,679, filed January 13, 1939.

The space between the gate I! and the inner surface of the main wall member ill constitutes the main chute passage P, as indicated in Fig. 2. i

this passage, in so far as it actually confines the movement of the coin, terminating at the lower edge Ila of the gate just above a rebound anvil Fig. is, an inside elevation of the gate showing tain manner over a reject opening it and a separator ii and into an acceptance opening ii on the far side of the selector from the anvil. The I ridge "a, it may be remarked, in effect dents either momentarily or permanentlycertain spurlous coinelements, causing the same to lose energy to carry them into the opening 2i, so that such elements drop into the reject opening ll.

v In order for the testing means or anvil II to function properly and reliably, it is necessary that the coin elements be directed or gravitated thereagainst at a more or less un'lform rate, and to this end one of the features of the present invention provides an adjustable runway 25 mounted preferably on the inner side of the gat II with its upper end disposed below the entrance opening I1 and its lower end 25a. terminating in spaced relation above the anvil It so that genuine coin elements will leave the same and follow a certain trajectory toward the anvil. Since slight variations in the inclination of the runway 25 have a very definite effect upon the trajectory followed by the various coin elements in leaving the same, the present invention provides for adjusting the runway. To this end the runway 25 is pivotally mounted on the inside face of the gate l2 as at 26 at the upper end of the runway 25, the runway 25 being providedwith locking means in the form of a screw 21 passed through an arcuate slot 2O II, which constitutes one of a plurality of testing formed in the gate l2 and threaded into the runway at a point below the pivot 28. By loosening the screw 21, the lower end No of the runway may be raised or lowered as the circumstances require, the screw thereafter being turned up to lock the same in position.

In accordance with the foregoing arrangement, the main force of the impact of coins dropping on the runway is taken up at the pivot 26 which lies substantially beneath the entrance opening IT, and there is therefore little stress on the locking means 11, thus obviating the danger of jolting the runway out of adjusted position through repeated use.

Additional testing means which functions critically in cooperation with the runway and anvil ll, includes a permanent magnet 30 mounted on the outside or back of the main 'plate It, so that its poles are substantially opposite the lower end 25a of the runway, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 4, and in full lines in Fig. 5. It should be observed that in Fig.4 the gate is removed to expose the inner surface of the plate III, and the runway would therefore not be seen, the same being indicated in its operative position by dottedlines to show its'relation to the magnevertheless follow a suitable but different trajectory than that of legitimate coins so that such spurious coin elements will come into engagement with the anvil It for passage into the reject opening I9. 4

A further testing means and one which con- .stitutes an additional improvement in part of the present invention, is a feeler comprising an elongated wire finger 35 (Figs. 1 and 2) secured at its upper end in a weighted mounting member 36. This mounting is accomplished by providing a narrow cut in one vertical edge of the member 36 and disposing the upper end of the finger in the cut and thereafter crimping over the side walls 31 of the-cut to clamp the finger in position. The weighted mounting member '36 is pivoted as at 38 in a bracket "secured to the outside of the'gate close to the offset entranceforming part I thereof, the pivot 38 being disposed eccentrically above the'center of mass of the member 36, so that the bottom portions oi the latter in which the finger is mounted will gravitate downwardly to project the offset end a of the finger through an opening in the gate and across the passage P to engage the coin elements descending date the runway 25.

The weighted carrying member 36 for the feeler feeler carrier 36, are spaced as at (Fig. 2)

. from the opposite surface of the offset part It of the gate, and it will also be observed that the opening 40 for the feeler is elongated vertically.

As a result of the foregoing arrangement, the end "a of the feeler normally bears against the opposite wall it of the main plateand will remain in contact with the latter during a small part of the initial opening movement of the gate so that it will be impossible to repeatedly oscillate the gate in very short strokes to cause dislodgement of arrestedcoin elements so that the same may continue down the rimway 26, since by such manipulation the runway would not be moved far enough away from the opposite wall to open the passage sufllciently to permit the coins to escape. Therefore, the gate. must be opened a predetermined distance adequate to move the runway 2! far enough away from the main mounting plate so that the passage will be opened substantially, and when the gate has moved this initial distance, the upper edge part Ilia. of the 'feeler-opening 40 will bear against the feeler or finger and carry the latterwith it so as to withdraw the end a from the passage and release any arrested coins, and by the time the feeler is thus withdrawn, the passage been.

definitely opened.

Arrested .coinelements which are released either from the influence of the feeler 35 or the magnet 30, or from the :collecting eifect of the enlarged entrance structure ll, will gravitate straight down into a discharge chute 46 which has its lower discharge end 41 disposed opposite the reject exit it. Thus, all of the coin elements which are cleared from the chute are returned to the exit 19. Entrance of such released coin elements into the acceptance opening-2| is prevented by the offset inner wall part 46a of the reject chute which is disposed in blocking relation to the acceptance passage and'which passes through an opening in the main plate for attachment to the outside of the latter as at ll,

is arranged with respect to its weight and pivotal mounting so as to render the finger yieldable to pressure of descending coins to the extent that the end portion 35a will be pushed out of the way while at the same time bearing against the side of the coin during its transit toward the runway so that if the coin is apertured or hasirregularly deep surface configurations, the end 35a of the feeler will arrest the coin. Coin elements which are too light to pushthe finger aside will also be arrested.

In order to clear the chute of coin elements which become jammed in the entrance II or which are arrested by the feeler 35, means is provided for moving the gate away from the plate II to widen the passage and open the same at its bottom by withdrawing the bottom-form-' ing runway or ledge 25 from the opposite wall of plate It. This means includes the provision of an operating lever 41 pivoted onthe outside of the plate It and provided with an oflset cam arm '42 which engages roller 43 on the gate and pivots the latter outwardly when the lever is depressed. It may be mentioned also that a roller 42a on the cam offset 42 also cams a sweep 44 out of its-normal position for movement across.

the poles of the magnet to dislodge any 'coin elements which may be arrested by the same.

It is important to observe that the inner edge The gate I2 is disposed in its'normally closed position by action of gravity and also by attraction of a thin keeper plate 49 by the magnet",

the plate being secured to the outside of the gate and, in addition to providing a supplemental 0105- ing means, concentrates the field of force from the magnet across the lower end parts 25a of the runway where it is most effective.

Another feature of the novel runway structure is the provision therein of a relieved or cut-away portion 26b which lies beneath the entrance opening I! and is of a width such that coin elements of less than a certain thickness will pass through the narrow opening defined by this relieved portion and the opposite surface of the main mounting plate, and hence pass directly into the reject parts adjacent the crimps I! on the weighted chute ll.

The various advantages and objects of the invention may be accomplished by modifications of the'particular embodiment specifically described herein, and it is intended that the appended claim shall include allequivalent arrangements fairly coming within their call.

Having thus described our invention-what we claim as new and desire to protest by Letters Patent is:

In a 'coin chute provided with an entrance opening and having an open side wall and ineluding a magnetic testing means on the wall opposite said open side wall for aflecting the travel of coins along a predetermined-trajectory, the combination of a sca enge-r gat vivotavv of coins over said runway compensatory to the magnetic quality or said magnet testing means,

said ineans including an arcuate slot formed in said gate and scribed on a radius from said pin means, and a headed locking means extending through said arcuate slot and having threaded connection with said runway.

' WILLIAM PA'I'ZER.

WALTER A. TRATSCH. 

